Nuclear Fission
by ringosatou17
Summary: Sequel to Nuclear Fusion. "That's why I wanted to see as much as I can of her so that I can remember her as long as I could remember. So that as long as I could remember her, I wouldn't need anything else to guide me through the fast-approaching sea of darkness." Spring Arc.
1. Spring 1

_**Nuclear Fission**_

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><p><strong>Full Summary<strong>:  
>"That's why I wanted to see as much as I can of her so that I can remember her as long as I could remember. So that as long as I could remember her, I wouldn't need anything else to guide me through the fast-approaching sea of darkness."<p>

Oliver Davis returns to Japan, and to the heart of Taniyama Mai, to find out that the feelings that they've felt for each other in their high school days had grown from a single spark to a huge flame. Meanwhile, Eugene Davis meets a young man who wishes to become a priest because of a girl who had spurned his advances three years ago, and learns that true love does not wither away nor become changed over the years. And in Japan, a bassist who wants to remain single forever meets the most difficult woman that he has ever faced, and thus begins a chain of relationships that not even the sharp mind of Oliver Davis can decipher in a matter of seconds. Find out how powerful the nuclear fission of love affects everyone in this fan fic.

Set one year and a half after 'Nuclear Fusion'.

[The title is inspired by the scientific term, and the story is roughly inspired by the song '_Eye Examination_' sung by Megpoid GUMI, and a few more myriad songs.]

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT<strong>! Read this! DL, DR!

**Pairings**: NaruMai and a dash of Friendship!GeneMai.

**Genres**: Romance & Drama

**Disclaimer**: I will never own Ghost Hunt, 'kay? All rights reserved by all concerned parties.

[_Dedicated to my "Naru", who was already suspecting of my true feelings. I love you. Even if I can't gather the courage to say it to you yet_.;(]

* * *

><p>[<em>Spring 1<em>]  
><strong><em>Chapter One<em>**  
><em>Beginnings<em>

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><p><em>The scenery we saw back then became less and less visible<em>  
><em>Which one of us changed?<em>  
><em>Was it you, or was it me?<em>  
><em>—<strong>Eye Examination<strong>, sung by GUMI_

_The cursor blinked once. Twice. Thrice. And one more time before I thought of starting to type in these words. I am not in any way the kind of person that you would tag as verbose, and neither am I in any way a person who regularly spill my secrets on paper, so I think that what I am doing now makes some kind of sense._

_It's raining. Do you know what reminds me whenever I see the rain?_

_That day when I last saw her. When I was leaving her for my homeland._

_The memory still saddens me. It frightens me to admit this to a machine that was devoid of any human feelings, but I already did and there is no getting over the fact._

_It was also raining on that day, and I remembered seeing her face out of a blurry sea of various others. She was the brightest among the crowd, and I think that's the reason why I can pick out her face from the rest. She was wearing a red sweater, and her tousled dyed hair was as unruly as I've ever seen it. She was certainly the most unladylike among the girls that I've ever met, and I like that quality of hers._

_Now, as I was typing these words, her face rose up more strongly than ever in the midst of the music that the rain was making, and making me wonder if it wasn't her face that struck me the most as it did her attitude. If it was, then could my affection for her be more sincere than it would be if I could actually remember her face?_

_But isn't it sad to admit that I couldn't picture her face again? What a poor being I am._

_That's why I wanted to see as much as I can of her so that I can remember her as long as I could remember. So that as long as I could remember her, I wouldn't need anything else to guide me through the fast-approaching sea of darkness._

_It was a sad thought._

_Should I really go back?_

_…_

_…Even he doesn't know what's plaguing me at this very moment._

_He doesn't need to know what would hurt him._

_…_

_…_

_**Shutting down**._

* * *

><p>On the clouded windows of the cab, I could see my conflicted reflection quite vaguely. The fact disturbed me more than I cared to admit.<p>

My head was hurting. Again.

It had been a week ever since I broke out of the hectic workload at college and thrust into the mundane uselessness of vacation. I hadn't yet decided on what to do during this period. The possibility of getting stuck at home while having to face the awkwardness of making small talk with my parents every lunch and dinner time daunted me. It was bad enough that Mum was keeping Gene on a very short leash nowadays, and now…

"Here we are, sir," the cabby told me suddenly, and I then realized that we were already in my street. I paid my fare and stepped out into the rain, not bothering to put up the umbrella that I had brought. It was just a short distance to walk, anyway.

"Noll, you're dripping on the carpet," Mum said admonishingly when she saw me entering the house. I didn't bother to reply, instead shrugging off my coat and draping it over my arm as I went upstairs, wishing for once that she'll let me off the hook sometimes. I was having enough problems at college as it was already.

"Gene?" I called out loud, but no one answered me back. My brows drew together in a scowl as I thought about where he might be at the moment. Back at high school, Gene was never one for serious study, so whenever he entered a period of free time for skylarking, he almost always manages to get himself stone drunk at nights and I almost always had to pick him up. Usual way of things. I didn't even have to know how he and his friends managed to sneak into bars in Shibuya in the past even though they were underage.

But— Hell, we're twenty now. And if no one can stop Eugene Davis from getting himself smashed at nineteen years old in Japan, it's likely as hell that no one can stop Eugene Davis from getting himself smashed at twenty years old in England.

Funny.

I stared at the dark sky while changing into something more comfortable, and ambled back to the bathroom to wash my hands and take off my contacts. Maybe I'll just sleep the afternoon off. Or maybe Gene'll call and take my mind off things by his lively chatter. I badly wanted to hear him tell me something stupid right now. Even his idiocy has a good side, I guess.

The raindrops fell more heavily as I lay on my bed, staring into the ceiling like a statue. I can't recall when I last did something like this. I'm not generally an inactive person. I always try to busy my hands and my eyes so that I can't think hard about anything in particular. Whenever something unpleasant happens to me, I use my work as diversion. Maybe that's why I was too overworked these days. My life here in England is too cramped.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and rolled over on my side, closing my eyes to let myself drift off to sleep.

…

…

What time was it already?

I distinctly heard my mobile ring—and that woke me right up.

Sleepily, I groped the side of my pillow for my phone and flipped it open. "Hello…?"

"Noll!"

Gene's cheerful tone filtered through the speaker, making me smile involuntarily. His voice eased my returning headache.

"I tried calling you earlier but you weren't answering. What did you do?" he asked enthusiastically.

"I was sleeping." I sat up in bed and ran a hand through my hair to flatten it back. I grabbed my reading glasses on the nightstand and put them on to look beyond the window. The rain had stopped, but the arrival of night an hour before I woke still maintained everything in darkness.

"You were?" Gene, even through the phone, sounded quite alarmed. "Are you sick or something?"

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically, and bit my lip as the first wave of my headache finally washed over me. "I had nothing else to do, so I decided to sleep it off." As usual, I was a good liar.

"I see." Gene's voice brightened again. How much denser could he possibly get? "Hey, if you haven't anything else to do, maybe you could hang out with me here."

"Just you?" I shook my head to clear my still-hazy mind, and then got off the bed to stretch.

"If you want," he replied rather thoughtfully.

"I don't drink," I reminded him shortly.

"Mocktail, Oliver," he snickered. "I'll get you a pina colada."

I rolled my eyes. "Where are you? I'm heading there."

"Get the car," he slyly told me, and I smirked.

"So you're planning on getting stoned tonight, huh, Eugene Davis?" I said dryly, and opened my closet to search for something appropriate to wear. "I'll be right there."

* * *

><p>"Running overtime again, jou-chan?"<p>

"I have to—I'm running out of spending money. I have to pay the rent next week too…"

The slender teenager punctuated her sentence with a sigh as she ran the items that the man placed before her under the barcode scanner. This particular convenience store was, as most convenience stores were, open all night long, and since she took the graveyard shift, she was practically turning into something like a human owl.

"Really, jou-chan… You are too stressed about your expenses, aren't you?" the twenty-five-year-old man, his bleached hair tied in a ponytail, frowned as he paid the teenager behind the counter. She smiled at the inquiry.

"Takigawa-san, it's not really anything of concern." Nineteen-year-old Taniyama Mai chuckled as she put all the items in a plastic shopping bag and handed it to him along with his change.

Takigawa's lip quirked as if to smile. "If you were my little sister, I'd really tell you off for staying out of the house at this time of night. Or I should say, early morning."—noticing the clock, which was pointed at 12:10 am.

Mai smiled apologetically. "Everyone has to earn money now, you know. Nothing comes free these days."

Takigawa laughed. "That's where you're wrong, jou-chan." He hesitated, before finally digging out two stubs of paper from his pocket and placing them on the counter. "Here. Tickets to our next gig, next week. Bring your boyfriend, if you like."

Mai's eyes rounded. "Takigawa-san, I do NOT have a boyfriend!"

Takigawa snorted. "Yeah, sure. But you do have someone, right? Just ask him out. Nothing draws out a boy faster than music." He raised a hand and went off, the bag of groceries held in one arm, and turned back to call, "Be there!"

Mai waved him off with a laugh. "Goodbye, Takigawa-san."

When Takigawa had went off his way, Mai leaned forward on the counter and sighed. It had been an uneventful day, and even with the occasional jobs that she had come upon for the summer, she found that it wasn't enough to keep her hands (and purse) full. She had been drifting off to several periods of boredom ever since graduation, and she knew that college wasn't possible for her yet. Maybe next year, if she had accumulated enough time to enroll in a public university and earn for herself at the same time.

But right now… Mai smiled to herself and thought about the advantages of holding back on college first. She was now free, or as free as a teenager with only an irregular income could ever hope to be.

She placed her fingers over the tickets still lying on the cold surface of the metal and grinned. "But, Takigawa-san, what if he wasn't even in Japan?" she murmured softly to herself.

Her mind drifted involuntarily to the Davis twins. Gene had been at her graduation as promised, but there was no sign of Noll. Mai knew that he must have been busy, but couldn't help but feel disappointed over his absence.

Gene had changed little behavior-wise, still as playful and still as mischievous, but he had developed a kind of tender maturity that Mai couldn't quite put her finger on. He must have grown a whole inch ever since they last met, which did not surprise her at all, although she was still rather overwhelmed by Gene's height as they stood side by side. At least, she still reached his shoulder.

Hara Masako and the principal had been quite surprised to see Gene among the spectators in the ceremony, and both had greeted the valedictorian of the last batch differently. Masako, in her quiet way, had politely asked Gene if Noll was doing fine at university, at which question Gene replied that Noll was doing extremely well.

"He's acting really weird these past few days, though," Gene had confidentially confided in Mai when Masako had walked off, head held high and black skirt fluttering. "I can't exactly figure out what was it that makes him weird, though."

Mai then tried to decipher Gene's words, but somehow failed to do so. "Huh?"

"I think he needs a break," was the reply. "I should really tell him to come back here with me next time."

Mai smiled at the memory, and looked out of the store window into the velvety darkness of the early morning. The tickets lay on the counter as if they had resigned themselves over their fates.

"I'll just give this to Michiru and her boyfriend. I'm sure they won't complain."

Dawn was approaching.

* * *

><p>"You're heavy, Gene. What are you freaking eating, rocks?"<p>

"Urgh…"

We were walking along a stretch of sidewalk in downtown London by the time, and I was carrying my twin brother on my back to the place where I parked the car. We must've looked rather undignified, but I didn't try to notice people staring at us as I strolled. I hoped that the night air will do him some good.

"Noll," Gene mumbled as we rounded a corner. His forehead was pressed against my temple.

"What?"

"What if we go take a trip back to Japan?"

"Huh?" I was taken aback. "Why?"

He smiled. "I miss Mai… And maybe you do too. It's been one year and a half since you two last laid eyes on each other. I attended her graduation, and you didn't, so that's one reason you should go see her again."

"Taniyama Mai's graduation?" I sighed as I thought. "I had an exam on that date, remember? I couldn't really do anything."

He bit my ear, hard. If I wasn't a self-contained person, I could have dropped him right there and then.

"What was that for?" I asked him waspishly when he released me. "I'll go leave you here on the gutter the next time you attempt something like that!"

"You're such a pathetic creature, love," he slurred, head drooping to rest on my shoulder. His carefully coiffured hair tickled my neck. "You can do better than that."

"I wonder." I really was wondering.

The light from the street lamp at the end of the sidewalk shone on the wet pavement.

"Well, if you're stupid enough, then don't. But I tell you, you need sunshine after this long stretch of rain."

I paused. "Was that a metaphor?"

I felt rather than see him smile. "Treat it as such, little brother."

I did not reply, but the idea was slowly growing in my mind like a seed. The simile made me smile to myself.

* * *

><p><em>Tick.<em>

_Tock._

_Tick_.

_Tock_…

The noises of the clock placed on the wall disturbed the silence of the empty room. The darkness of the early morning enveloped everything like a peaceful shroud. The floor was immaculately swept, and the edge of a futon peeked through the sliver of a partially-closed cabinet. The door was closed and probably locked, while the curtains were closed over the windows.

The study desk on the corner of the room had the look of something that was frequently used by its owner, judging from the partially-opened drawers and a stack of three books on the top. On the top of the books was placed a letter dated almost one and a half years ago, written in messy Japanese calligraphy. It had been evidently read and fondly reread by the receiver because of its faded edges. By its side, a collection of letters, cards and photographs placed in an empty Merci chocolate box was quietly resting, as if waiting for someone.

The letter that was placed on the books was dated on October, yes, October of one and a half years ago, written on a piece of neat yellowing paper. Stapled on it were two photos small enough to fit in a wallet, one of a tall young man with messy jet-black hair and handsome dark blue eyes and the other of the same young man or maybe his twin—the difference in expression was so apparent as to suggest the suspicion—reading a book by a veranda.

_Hi, Mai-chan! How are you?_

_Well, you must be rather surprised to receive a letter from me just today, huh? Haha, it's just because I was drowned in schoolwork the past two weeks, and I've not thought of writing you anything before that. I'm writing this in a Starbucks in London since going back home to Cambridge is too stuffy for me. Noll is stuck there, of course, but you can't really blame him. You could say that college life was hurtling at him head-on and wasn't letting him breathe. Really, don't expect me to envy him. Compared to me, perhaps, he's gotten the heavier workload. He's spouting out reports all day. Ugh._

_Anyways, it's been overwhelming to take a whiff of English atmosphere after four years in Japan. The air is always heavy and moist, and everyone is actually speaking in English! (ahaha) Ah, I've forgotten how everyone here eats ice cream here even while it's raining! —Wasn't it supposed to be the kind of food you eat during, um, hot days? . Japan is kinda-super-hot during summers, I've noticed. But so far, I've failed at trying to obtain even the slightest tan. Maybe it's in our genes…? Punny._

_Well, I've ordered a tall chocolate chip frappe and trying my best to finish it off as soon as possible. Hey, the girl at the counter just made sheep-eyes at me! Could you believe it? :o (No, I'm not hitting on her. For some creepy reason, I sensed that you must be staring really hard at the photo of me that came with this letter as you reach those last two lines…)_

_Speaking of the photos that came with this letter, there's one of me and one of your prince charming 'cause I know you missed looking at us. :D You could tell who's who without my explanation, couldn't you? For the sake of confirming your guesses, I'm the one in the picture of the river, while Noll is the one in the picture of the veranda of our room back at home. Yeah, we share one room. Quite crowded with two teenagers [read: bachelors] inside, and we have a lot of stuff apiece. I swear, Noll's books are threatening to invade my side of the room. =.=_

_You know, it's quite refreshing to enter college. The professors actually treated us like adults. Not like high school, where my slightest offense sends my homeroom teacher ballistic. Nobody knows me very well too, so I'm like a shadow in the background and no one has any fixed image of me yet that I have to live up to. It's like wiping the slate of my life clean. I'm happy. That's the simple truth._

_Well, I also joined tryouts for football and I'm waiting for the results this week. It's going to be a tough year for your super cute athletic friend, all right! I'm quite nervous, but I have a good varsity record last year in our school, and I did experience a winning streak the whole time during high school. Four years of championing? No mean feat…_

_Okay, I'll stop bragging and go on with my letter. I hope my Japanese is still good? I kept missing the kanji when I first studied this language. Noll can't read very well in kanji too, but he knows just enough to ace his classes. Just a little secret between us three about the perfectionist, huh?_

_If you were here in London with me, maybe you'd enjoy a walk through the city. There's just so much to see. Of course there's a lot to see in Tokyo too (I'm pretty much in love with Shibuya, myself, so much that if the place had been a girl, I would have married her), but I've missed being here in my native soil. I guess it adds a little spice in my sightseeing. Haha. I'm actually smiling as I'm penning that last sentence. People are looking at me weird, but maybe they're just in awe of my good looks? There, there, I'm already stifling that little vain part of me (which cries out occasionally) for you. I know how much you didn't approve of grooming my vanity too much, hehe._

_Look, it's drizzling again. Good thing I'm still in the café. It's really warm here, and I'm sure I'll come out smelling of coffee. Yum. Noll told me one day that a hyperactive me is like a Starbucks store. I dunno, but he said something about how he can never get rid of us both. Was it really?_

_…Bam, I've successfully finished my frappe and am now making my way toward the exit. The girl at the counter looked really disappointed. Oh well, I've gotten myself a shiny new Starbucks card (only works in London, though) so she shouldn't complain._

_I'll try to tell you more about the land of tea and scones next time. For now, goodbye._

_Cheers!_  
><em>Gene~<em>

A letter was also lying unnoticed on the floor by the foot of the desk, this time written on a piece of yellow pad paper. It must have been dropped in haste by the person who read it, along with its discreet white envelope. This letter was dated very recently, just about a week ago. It was still written in the same hand, but was noticeably much neater. Perhaps the writer had practiced his penmanship over the past year.

_Mai… Mai… Mai…! ._

_What do you do when your twin is acting strange? As in, normal for you but very strange for him? O.o_

_Of course you can't answer because you don't even have siblings, but I'm very worried over Noll. I have a suspicion, though… maybe he's now experiencing the first stirrings of teenage rebellion? Even though, technically, he's not a teenager anymore? ;D_

_He's really quite odd the past few_ _days. You know him—he usually reads or studies so much that it's almost a hobby of his. Well, over the past week, he's been abandoning his books and always sighs over his essays. And it drove me so mad that I even asked Mum if I could sleep in the spare room instead because it annoys me! Imagine that—!_

_—Cue your very cute angel of a friend whispering into your ear, "I think he's lovesick." And Gene gets brick'd._

_I'm imagining you screaming into my ear, "STOP THE JOKES EUGENE DAVIS FOR GOD'S SAKE OR I'LL KICK YOUR SORRY ARSE TO NEXT WEEK I SWEAR", so I'll stop. Hur hur._

_Anyways, as I've told you about two weeks ago or so, I think he needs a vacation from the stresses at home. It's not going to be healthy for him if he keeps this up, don't you think so too?_

_Don't worry, as I was writing this, I'm thinking of a plan to convince him to go. —Oops, Mum's calling me. Gotta scram for a while._

_…_

_THERE. I've gone and done the task. I told Noll about my super duper awesome plan._

_His answer was a very cool stare_._ I dunno. But at least it wasn't a direct refusal, huh?_

_Hey, Noll's coming into my room (read: the spare room, remember?) and_

The rest of the letter was written in a very nice hand, and the slight tear on the paper between the switch in handwriting must've been caused by the second author grabbing the letter out of the first author's hands. Anyways, the letter continued—

_Mai,_

_I've decided to go back to Tokyo next week, so be sure to pick me up. I've already booked a flight and I think it's arriving on five o'clock next Wednesday on your time zone. See you._

_Oliver_

The writing switched back abruptly to the penmanship of the first author at this point—

_—And that wasn't very nice, by the way._

_Soooo… Again, Noll had thought of it already! Hah! Good luck, Mai-chan!_

_Gene~_

* * *

><p>Nineteen-year-old Taniyama Mai, that cashier that we've met last time at the little convenience store on the corner of a certain street in Tokyo, anxiously leaned over the railings that separated the anxious families from their newly-arrived loved ones. She felt annoyed that she had to be the one to welcome Oliver Davis into Japan, but couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as she turned over the mental image that she had saved in her memory of the last time she saw Oliver—tall, slight, and with the same black hair and intense blue eyes that Gene had. However, Noll held himself differently, immediately putting up a barrier between him and the outside world whenever he gets the free time to come outside and be kissed by the sun.<p>

Mai had, in the eighteen-month interval between today and the twins' departure for England, attained some slight physical changes. Truly, she wore her still-dyed hair a bit on the longer side now, although it still fell short of her shoulders, allowing it to grow in natural waves. Mai still fetched the scissors to her healthy mane whenever it threatened to get messy, not having the necessary financial assets nor the heart to give herself a proper haircut from a proper hairdresser, but it always breaks free of her incessant taming and she had consented it to grow past her high school hairstyle. At least for the time being.

Her eyes were as big and as expressive as ever, although one may notice a shadow lurking behind those bright brown eyes. Be it brought about by the events of the past year or by an event in her life that we hadn't known about, no one can say accurately.

She had matured—yes, she had. She was still loud, still carried away by girlish fancies, but she had learned to carry herself in a way that most will call "grace". Indeed, as Gene might say so himself, Mai was by no means the prettiest swan in the lake, but she was still a swan, nonetheless.

And as she stood there in the midst of the airport's chaos, the edges of her nails rough from the incessant biting of their impatient owner, Mai was wondering if there had been changes in Oliver's seemingly inflexible personality that developed during that interval between his graduation and her own. And if there had, what were they? Are they for the worse? For the better? Mai sincerely hoped that it was the latter.

She frustratedly checked her watch, the third time that she had done so ever since she heard from the speakers that Oliver's flight had landed. It had been a mere ten minutes, but Mai had been made out of virtually the same cast as Gene, and so impatience came naturally to her.

"Where is he?"

At that moment, a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, making her squeak and drop the phone that she was holding. With an angry snarl, she spun around to give the unwelcome intruder a sharp rebuke, only to give herself a shock as her dark eyes made contact, for the first time in a long while, with beautiful, long-lashed blue eyes belonging to the man that she had long been waiting for.

The young man picked up the dropped phone and handed it back to Mai with a sarcastic smile. "You shouldn't be so careless as to drop your things when someone startles you. Really…"

With his jet-black hair swept back casually in a careless windswept manner, Oliver looked as if he had just come from a photo shoot instead of merely stepping out of a plane moments ago. Everything about him was stylishly perfect—and that was something that Mai knew would never change. He had this habit of casually donning classical fashion that would look strained on another person. Mai often wondered if Noll was stuck in his own time plane, watching everyone change around him while he himself never did.

And yet, something changed physically in him too. Mai could have sworn that he saw neat, transparent contact lenses on his eyes. It was quite unnoticeable at first, but when Noll drew closer to inspect her gaping expression, she could distinctly see the borders of a pair of transparent lenses surrounding his dark blue irises. Had his eyesight worsened over the past year? He hadn't needed corrective lenses in his senior year. Or at least, not that she had ever noticed.

And yet, at second glance, he looked the same—yet not the same, Mai thought in wonder, as she continued to run her eyes hungrily over the features of twenty-year-old Oliver Davis. The blue eyes, referred to in the past as eyes which could outclass icicles in their coldness, were now softened to a quite mellow lukewarmness—not exactly warm, but not as cold as the first time that they had set eyes on each other.

"Taniyama-san?"

Mai snapped out of it to notice that they were staring into each other's eyes. Blushing profusely, she bowed awkwardly and murmured an apology before accompanying him out to the fresh chilly morning air. The dawn was just breaking on the horizon, and Mai kept slapping her numb cheeks whenever her sleepy eyes drooped.

Noll hailed a cab over and, without the driver's help, managed to haul his luggage inside. Mai uncomfortably sat at the back of the car and watched Noll as if in a dream as he entered on the passenger side and settled comfortably on the seat as if he had been gone for only a week from Japan.

As Mai smelled Noll's subtle scent wash over her, though, she was forced to realize that this wasn't a dream. This was sweet reality.

"Taniyama-san, if you keep staring into my back, I'd think that you were admiring me." He met her eyes in the rearview mirror.

Mai bit her lip to keep from retorting back, and smiled to herself.

Yes, Oliver Davis—no, her Naru!—was indeed back.

* * *

><p>The black cat kept on following Gene. He was doing every evasive walking technique that he could remember, but that didn't faze the cat—instead, it rather intensified its pursuit. Gene couldn't see why he was the one person whom the cat was insistent on following, but he was getting quite tired.<p>

It was a whole weekend ever since Oliver departed for Japan, and now, he was strolling on the bank of a river, the sun making the clear water sparkle like a huge sapphire snake. He kept on striding along, the cat leaping quickly to catch up with his ankles, until a voice distracted him from the activity.

"I think he likes you."

The statement did not stop Gene so much as the accent in which it was spoken. When he turned his head to look at the one who interrupted his exercise, he saw a blond young man sitting on the opposite bank of the river, holding an opened book hardbound in leather. He was rather of short stature, but that made his kindly features stand out even more. Gene decided that if ever you had a problem that you'd like to pour out, this was the right guy to spill it out to.

"Your accent sounds different," Gene said casually, scrutinizing the stranger's regularly blond features.

"I get that a lot here," the young man replied cheerfully. "I'm Australian. We moved here three years ago. I tried flattening every vowel that I can flatten and started pretending that R didn't exist, but I just can't seem to please my classmates. So I reverted back to my native accent. I can't please everybody, as they say."

"I know that only too well." Gene laughed, and promptly saluted comically. "Eugene Davis. I'm a first year student in Cambridge."

"John Brown," the blond said, with an adorable smile. Gene smiled back amiably at this. "I'm currently a third-year in Oxford."

"John Brown? Like in that Disney movie?"

"Yeah." John Brown laughed.

"And _Oxford_?" Gene chortled, dark blue eyes amused. "What are you doing in enemy territory?"

"Trying to reflect on things," John Brown said with a laugh. "Home is far too… stifling for the moment. At least, no one knows me here."

"You said you're enrolled in Philosophy… So you're studying to become a priest?" Gene easily sauntered opposite John, the river separating them from any further contact other than verbal, and sat down on the grass like the Australian. The water shimmered like crystal.

John nodded politely. "My parents wanted me to enter seminary, but taking up Philosophy first before entering seminary was my personal choice. I'd like to know about what I was supposed to do before committing myself." He glanced at his watch. "My parents must be looking for me now… I really must go." He nodded amicably at Gene. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Davis. And your cat."

Gene watched John walk away until he became a speck. "He's rather weird, I think," he decided. "But I think he's nice." He glanced at the cat that was making itself comfortable in his lap. "Don't you think so?"

The cat mewed and batted at Gene's shirt.

"You stare like Noll," Gene grumbled, surveying the cat's actions. "Right. I'll just call you Noll while my brother is away, okay? You have blue eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>masako_chan<strong> logs in. _30 mins ago_

…

**johnbrown0105** logs in. _just now_

**johnbrown0105**: It's been a long while. How are you?

**masako_chan**: Better without your annoying persistence.

**johnbrown0105**: Ah. Was I that bad for you?

**masako_chan**: I have nothing more to say to you. What I told you three years ago was final. Goodbye.

**johnbrown0105**: But I still

**masako_chan** logs out. _just now_

**johnbrown0105**: love you, you know.

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><p><strong>AN: **

Hello again. This is your annoyingly lazy writer ringosatou17, and welcome to the pilot chapter of the sequel to 'Nuclear Fusion', the unimaginatively entitled 'Nuclear Fission'. I hope you enjoy my work as always! (bow)

I decided to release the pilot chapter instead of updating the preview because I can't wait to hear from you guys. This is going to be the most complicated thing that I'll ever work on… so complicated that it'll give a whole new meaning to the status "It's Complicated". :))))

This could have more chapters compared to 'Nuclear Fusion', though. You could guess what I'm starting to plan for this story if you've read and analyzed the verses at the beginning. Heehee. :) Personally, I've never written a tragic story before but I love them too much. I love reading tearjerkers, you know? :)))) And I've based this on a song which was rather sad.

Cheers!

[This story will be divided into four seasons:

Spring—NaruxMai  
>Summer—JohnxMasako<br>Fall—AyakoxBou-san  
>Winter—all three:D]<p>

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><p><strong>Give a poor writer an excuse to update. Review!<strong>


	2. Spring 2

_**Nuclear Fission**_

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT<strong>! Read this! DL, DR!

**Pairings**: NaruMai and a dash of Friendship!GeneMai.

**Genres**: Romance & Drama

**Disclaimer**: I will never own Ghost Hunt, 'kay? All rights reserved by all concerned parties.

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><p>[<em>Spring 2<em>]  
><em><strong>Chapter Two<br>**__Anecdotes_

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><p><em>I can't accomplish anything by myself,<br>__but you gave me songs to sing.  
><em>_From that day on, my heart's empty space  
><em>_is always filled up by you.  
><em>—_**Electric Angel**_, _sung by Hatsune Miku_

"Ohime-sama." The slow steps upon the tatami mats were all that permeated the air alongside the tentative, fearful voice of the attendant, who approached the silent girl that stood like a bent bamboo by the sliding door to her father's room.

The large traditional Japanese house was that eerily quiet, the soft wind, laden with the heavy scent of cherry blossoms, even refusing to blow and spoil the tranquility inside.

"How many times have I told you not to call me by those honorifics, Reiko?" At nineteen years old, the haughty profile of Hara Masako had all but changed. Her dark almond eyes were still muted, her lip still quelled from speaking out of turn, the blue kimono contrasting sharply with her skin, which was rather pale from refraining to go outside. Rising from her bow, she gave Reiko a severe, condescending look that the attendant knew wasn't intended given Masako's usual gentle nature. "Get me some tea, and bring it to my room."

"But—" Reiko knew of the Hara patriarch's relationship with his only child and daughter, and that there wasn't anything particularly warm between them. Not when all that was expected of her was utter perfection. Masako may have caught the beauty and brains naturally, but there was still much, much more to work for to attain the approval of her father and a lot more other people. Which was rather natural when you think about it—after all, Masako's father had two more elder brothers, each of them leading successful lives and businesses. And since he was rather led by Chinese superstitions even with his nationality, when his first child was born and he discovered that it was a girl, he assumed that Masako's birth bode evil for the third branch of the prestigious Hara family.

Thus, Masako had to work hard to prove that she wasn't unlucky—that she wasn't everything that her father had assumed she would be.

To herself, Reiko thought that it was quite too large a task for Masako's small hands.

Reiko found her little mistress in a neat seiza position when she finally retraced her steps to Masako's room with the materials for the tea. The shoji that led to the outside yard was shunted to the side, letting the cherry tree by the partition send pale petals floating in. They dropped one by one on the tatami while Reiko prepared the tea, Masako quite oblivious of the latter's entrance.

"Masako-sama, your tea," Reiko said quite conscientiously as she rose and prepared to leave the room, her eyes carefully averted from her mistress's grave ones.

"Tell me," Masako said quietly, turning to look at Reiko, "have my achievements not been enough?"

"Ah, I—" Reiko swallowed nervously before answering, quite aware that one slip of the tongue would send Masako careening away to a direction that the head of the house would _not_ appreciate. "I know you have done your best, Masako-sama. And by that, I mean that you also have your limitations as a young woman. Surely Hara-dono must've known that."

Masako smiled softly. "Chichiue is a proud man. Simply doing my best is not adequate to his eyes. More so when he thinks that I am a plague to this house. If hahaue hadn't died giving birth to me—"

"It was never your fault," Reiko said firmly, reading the river of guilt running in Masako's eyes, which were too grave for a girl her age.

"Come to think of it, this was Eugene Davis's problem too, one and a half years ago," Masako mused, examining the sleeve of her heavy silken kimono with a faraway look. "I must say, his attempt at escaping from everything was quite, if I may be allowed to say, brash. It left him and his family as huge emotional wrecks."

At the mention of the Davises, Reiko sighed lightly. "Oliver-sama didn't try to contact you after leaving for England?"

"Fufun~" Masako chuckled for a bit at Oliver's name, wrung out reluctantly from the attendant's lips. Reiko had never really understood her mistress's infatuation with the stoic young man, an infatuation that has persisted even with countless unspoken yet implied rejections. "Well, he has never really taken a liking to me."

"What made you like him so much, Masako-sama?" Reiko said in barely concealed confusion, her eyebrows in a scowl. "He does not even have the eyes to see your worth—"

_Like Hara-dono,_ she was tempted to add, but pursed her lips. After all, such treason was dangerous.

"Reiko, maybe you wouldn't understand," Masako replied easily. "After all, I can never quite understand it myself."

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><p>Yes, Masako could still remember it quite easily in her mind, an event that could never wash away from her memory. Four years—which was quite a long time ago, but was like a breeze to the young Masako back then. Because that day four years ago had made her question for the first time her worth in the family, to her father, to everyone else, Masako had termed it That Day—the day when Oliver first made an impression in her mind.<p>

It was funny, since Oliver hadn't really demonstrated something that could have made a normal girl fall for him. Masako had pondered about the mystery for a while, before deciding that maybe it was part of his charm, that solid, solid obstinacy, that haughty, unhidden pride in his sapphire eyes.

What Masako could first remember of that day was that she was crying under a willow tree in an obscure part of a nearby park, still in her middle school uniform, her bag flung carelessly aside. The rain was an unexpected but welcome guest, since under the cover of the rushing drops through the leaves, Masako couldn't hear her own thoughts coursing through her mind.

She had been fed up with the absurdity and injustice of it all—meeting her father's expectations had been a thing that took her away from herself. Those hollow eyes, puffed up from crying, might as well have belonged to a bird that has already decided to resort to death, the sheer impossibility of escaping the cage that was formed by her father's hands too much for the brittle wings. But as a woman bearing the name of Hara, Masako was sure that a suicide attempt on her part would cause her father more embarrassment than regret. In the end, it would accomplish nothing. Masako would cease to exist, physically and in others' memories. After all, to the eyes of an outsider, she had as much substance as a wisp of a shadow that was long since suppressed into the dark.

And as she cried there, with spirits so down that it might as well had been part of the earth in the first place, he passed by. Or no, the fifteen-year-old Masako had once led herself to believe, he did not just pass by—he purposefully came to raise her once again on her crumbling pedestal.

Even back then, he was as straight and as graceful as the willow tree that she had been crouching under for support, his raven hair falling into his ice blue eyes as he looked down on her pathetic form. And with a quirk of an eyebrow, he said, in a language that Masako knew but had never bothered practicing when in normal company, _"And I thought I'd find some peace and quiet in here."_

Masako looked up upon hearing that voice, her mouth half-open in protest, and when she stared in those wonderfully bottomless eyes of his, it was as if she broke from a trance—the spell of the rain came crashing down all around her, and the wound that the adults around her had left was painfully apparent in her look. The boy must have seen it, because a flash of conflict arose in his face before being completely washed away by his precise, scientific mind.

"_Do you understand English?"_ he asked with a sort of deprecating glance, and Masako would have hated it if it wasn't from him. She didn't answer, and he took it upon himself that she hadn't understood, even as her mind comprehended his every word albeit with some difficulty at his flat accent.

He switched from English to Japanese, and even though his accent was still noticeable, it wasn't quite as hard to decipher his words. "Then, could you mind telling me what a middle schooler is doing here under my tree?"

_His tree? _His_ tree?_ Masako paused at this bold statement from the other teen, her dark eyes wide at the blatant possessiveness. She had never seen someone as bold or as domineering as the boy before her, and that made her bottom lip sag in a pout, all traces of the dark thoughts that she had been thinking gone for the moment. "I—I'm not crying. I totally am not. Even if I had been, it's none of your business." _And this is a public place,_ she added inwardly.

"Are you sure? And I agree, it's none of my business," he said coolly, and crossed his arms. "But you're disturbing my place of observation, and it's annoying me. It's none of your business to cry either. You're just still a brat—and it's not as if you've already experienced something that'd warrant suicide, anyway."

Masako sniffled a little, and her gaze dropped down to the ground. "What if you're wrong about that?"

"I'm never wrong," he said quite decisively, and Masako knew that he believed it himself. And the strange thing was, _she_ also felt that he was right… even with his high-and-mighty attitude.

"If you say so, then," she decided to say to placate him, since in his eyes there existed a faint shadow of annoyance. She didn't know what made her stay so agreeable even with his attitude, even when her normal self would have already either lashed out bitingly or gave this beautiful newcomer the cold shoulder. But she could feel it—the sheer strength of his presence. It contrasted sharply with her natural softness. He wasn't comforting, he wasn't any of those boys at school who wanted to curry her favor just because she was pretty and a Hara.

She instinctively wanted it. She instinctively wanted _him_.

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><p>My mobile, which had been placed haphazardly on top of the coffee table, lighted up and rang just as I emerged from a long shower, the hot water helping me relax even for a bit. Wrapping a towel firmly around my waist, I decided to let it ring three more times before picking it up, letting myself fall on one of the couches placed around the table. The caller ID told me that it was Gene.<p>

It may be hard to acknowledge, but what I felt was relief. I wasn't prepared to exchange a volley of scathing words with Taniyama Mai tonight, although it would certainly help keep me entertained. Not that she would appreciate the sentiment.

"_Hi, Noll. How's Shibuya?" _

"I'd ignore the fact that you just asked me about the welfare of the city first before your own brother's, and tell you that Shibuya's fine. It's certainly not raining in here."

A laugh. _"I just did something that you yourself would have done. And that's lucky. Today saw so many showers back here, on and off. The skies sure are indecisive today."_ Then a pause, a delicate one, and I knew what topic he was going to launch at next. _"How about Mai? Is she okay?"_

"As far as I see. She certainly put on some weight. Not as skinny as she was last time I saw her."

"_She grew her hair out, right? I saw in the photos." _

"Yeah. Quite a bit." I paused and toyed with the empty cup that I had left sitting on the table. The cold dregs stared back up at me as I looked in, like the remnants of a particularly happy memory. "A bit taller, as well. But she's still as impressionable as ever. I swear she blushes every time I look at her face."

Gene's resulting laugh was so infectious that I just had to smile slightly. _"Naw, what would I give to see you two together!" _

"I could only imagine." I sat back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, stray strands of hair somewhat obstructing my vision before I straightened and flattened them out of the way with a comb. "Is Mum alright there?"

"_Yeah. And I made another friend, which is quite funny because I wouldn't have met him if we hadn't decided to come to that same stretch of water at the same time. And I had another cat." _

"Eugene Davis, you just don't know when to stop at cats, do you?"

"_Ehehe~ I named him Noll cause he looks at me like you do." _

"I can't believe I'm being compared by my own brother to a _cat_." A lace of exasperation entwined in my tone without my consent, and Gene laughed again.

"_Nah, I love Noll the human more."_ I could practically _hear_ his _grin_.

"Am I supposed to feel touched at this point?" I asked, deadpanning.

"_Aw, I do love you Noll." _

"Sure."

"_Is that sarcasm I hear?"_

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><p>The halls of the college were silent except for the gentle footfalls of the students and professors walking to and fro. Mori Madoka looked up from her papers to see a familiar tall figure on the far end of the corridor, her hands pausing from the action of flipping to the next page.<p>

"Koujou?"

The man turned to face the direction of the call, and saw Madoka practically flying to his side, a smile widening on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I just had a matter discussed with the dean." Koujou Lin looked at his watch and then back to Madoka's beaming face. "I'm arranging a transfer to this college."

"What, in the middle of the semester? That's highly irregular." Madoka looked rather confused. "And I was sure that you're a stickler for rules."

"Well, Mr. Davis requested me to, to keep an eye on his eldest son." Lin's lips twitched into the smallest of frowns. "I don't see how observing him would help, but I heard that he got into a bit of trouble in his final year in high school back in Japan."

"I see. Professor Davis, huh?" Madoka shrugged. "I knew of that incident as well." She sank her voice to a low whisper. "Apparently Eugene fell off the deep end or something and attempted suicide. The professor's wife had been uneasy about her son ever since."

Lin was silent for a few moments, pondering upon the piece of information. "I see. Maybe that's why the professor was reluctant to share any particulars."

Madoka sighed. "I didn't know that you owed the professor that much… even to the extent of transferring colleges."

Lin's visible eye looked upon Madoka, his severe gaze making her quail. "I didn't like this arrangement much, but I'll see what I can do of this situation."

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><p><strong>johnbrown0105<strong> logs in. _25 mins ago_

**gene_davis** logs in. _just now_

…

**gene_davis**: Hi, John.

**johnbrown0105**: Ah, hello.

**gene_davis**: I haven't seen much of you lately. Are things fine by your end?

**johnbrown0105**: Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "fine", but in general, I'm okay. My life's pretty uneventful.

**gene_davis**: Eh~ Anyway I have a question. Have you ever fallen in love with someone?

**johnbrown0105**: E-Eh?! What's that all of a sudden?

**gene_davis**: Nothing much. I was just curious. Y'know, I've never really fallen in love truly before, and I'm already, what, nineteen?

**johnbrown0105**: Well, love isn't meant to be hurried into, anyway. I've known lots of people who don't meet their life partners until they were well ahead in years…

**gene_davis**: I see. Well, what about the answer to my first question?

**johnbrown0105**: Can we hold that later? I mean, it's quite a touchy subject…

**gene_davis**: Alright. I think I hit a nerve or two. XD

**johnbrown0105**: Okay. I'll, uh, go first, then?

**gene_davis**: OK, sure. ^^

**johnbrown0105 **logs out. _just now_

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><p><strong>AN**:

Five words: I'm sorry, and thank you!

I'm sorry for the huge delay in this chapter. I scrapped out my first draft (which was already a few pages long) and wrote out a completely new one because it wasn't progressing how much I paid attention to it. Couple it with a few months of doing nothing but original short stories because I took up Literature for my college program, and because my last requirements for my courses are nothing but stories and papers and reports. I'm pretty much drained in terms of plot bunnies. Ehe~

And after a few months' deliberation, I finally decided to give our Hara Masako, who didn't get enough exposure last time, a background story. And since her seiyuu is the "Queen of Tsundere", why not notch her presence up a bit? xD

I changed my mind a bit, and then introduced Madoka and Lin into the story. I may find them in a pairing some chapters on.

And thank you for the reviews! It blew my mind. Certainly did not expect the enthusiastic response!

And let's all give Inada-sensei another huge "thank you!" for doing the sequel! Squee! I need more of Naru's chibi moments so bad. Hoho~

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><p><strong>Character Files<br>**[_notes according to the Nuclear universe_]

_**John Brown  
><strong>_**Birthdate**: Jan. 5 (Capricorn)  
><strong>Blood Type<strong>: A  
><strong>Height<strong>: 162 cm (5'4")  
><strong>Age in Nuclear Fission<strong>: 23?  
><strong>Notes<strong>: A third-year Philosophy student in Oxford. Simplistic and malleable, John moved from Australia to the British Isles to stall for time before entering the seminary, against his parents' wishes. Seemingly unfettered with worries, however, John might have a second, more deeper reason for being unable to commit himself to the cloth. What might it be, and how was he connected to Hara Masako in any way?

_**Hara Masako  
><strong>_**AKA**:Doll-san  
><strong>Birthdate<strong>: Jul. 24 (Leo)  
><strong>Blood Type<strong>: AB  
><strong>Height<strong>: 152 cm (5')  
><strong>Age in Nuclear Fission<strong>: 19  
><strong>Notes<strong>: The only daughter of a wealthy landowner, Hara Masako seems like a typical rich ojou-sama from a typical rich family, but her difficulties with her father set her away from the stereotype, giving her a faltering eye and a firm yet gentle hand. Still in love with the narcissist even after countless rejections, though, she displays a decisive heart that Noll unwittingly might have taught to hold on tenaciously to her beliefs. More of her story might unfold as _Nuclear Fission_ unravels slowly.

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><p><strong>Give a poor writer an excuse to update. Review!<strong>


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